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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-04-09 Daily Xml
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HAMPSTEAD REHABILITATION CENTRE

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (15:25): I seek leave to make an explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Health questions about the Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: The council will no doubt be aware by now of the appalling treatment of Anthony Fox, who recently came to the attention of the media after essentially being forced to remain at Hampstead as appropriate services from Disability Services could not be arranged to support his discharge.

Mr Fox's case gained significant media attention; however, it would be foolish for anyone to think that this was the only instance where the great silos of the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion and SA Health proved incapable of working together to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Mr Fox is not alone in having felt the frustration of being stuck in hospital, of wanting to return to his home, to familiar things, of knowing that you were not taking up a bed that someone else desperately needed.

However, today I am concerned with another horrendous case at the other end of the scale, of the situation of another Hampstead client who faces the prospect of being sent home at short notice with very little discharge planning having taken place while staff are apparently unable or unwilling to arrange for them to receive appropriate services in the community.

This constituent, whose family has contacted my office, has been told that there is no funding available for support hours even though a request for these hours is yet to be made. Instead, his partner has been told—not asked but told—to quit their job in order to become this person's full-time carer. When they made the point that this would make it difficult for them to maintain the relationship as a partner, it was suggested that they might ask their friends to come and perform personal care tasks such as showering.

This is the horrifying other side of the coin for South Australians with disabilities. Some find themselves trapped in the health system, unable to leave because of the inability of Disability Services to provide them with a service. Others find themselves facing the harsh reality of discharge into the community when there are no services available to support them in the community. This is an unfair product of an unfair system—a system which has misplaced its goals and now appears to value meeting its own internal reporting requirements and cost-cutting measures over the just economics of caring for the health and wellbeing of the people of South Australia. My questions are:

1. Does the minister believe it is acceptable for SA Health staff to suggest a client's partner quit their job to take on full-time caring responsibilities?

2. Does the minister believe it is acceptable for SA Health staff to suggest that a client's friends might be able to provide personal care services, rather than referring the client to professional disability services?

3. Is the minister concerned about the way discharge planning is being conducted at the Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre or any of the state's other public hospitals?

4. Does the minister accept that the relationship between the state's health, mental health and disability services has become hopelessly dysfunctional?

5. Will the minister undertake to review discharge planning processes in relation to people with a disability, mental illness or chronic illness?

The PRESIDENT: The Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation representing the minister in the other place—but there is a bit of opinion and seeking opinion in those questions.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:28): I thank the honourable member for her most important question, directed to the Minister for Health and Ageing in the other place. I undertake to take that question to the minister and seek a response on her behalf.

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